Pot on a plane? TSA reverses course after briefly saying it's OK to fly with cannabis

The official website said flying with medical marijuana was no problem – before changing its mind after 24 hours. Legally and practically, the picture is confused

Air travelers move through a main security checkpoint at the Denver international airport. Travelers found with marijuana are asked to dispose of it in one of the airport’s ‘amnesty boxes’.
Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

For at least 24 hours, it appeared that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had officially declared what many had suspected all along: if you have a prescription, you can fly with marijuana.

The TSA website’s “What Can I Bring?” page – listing items allowed and banned from plane travel – amended their “Medical Marijuana” section on Tuesday so that a bright green “Yes” appeared next to “checked” and “carry-on bags”.

By Wednesday afternoon, that same page disappeared for a few hours, then returned with a red “No”.

“We’re sorry for any confusion. A mistake was made in the database of our new ‘What Can I Bring’ tool,” the TSA tweeted in response to marijuana-reform advocates celebrating the apparent change in policy.

AskTSA (@AskTSA)

@cannaadvisors We’re sorry for any confusion. A mistake was made in the database of our new “What can I bring?” tool.

The incident has only added to the confusion surrounding whether marijuana users have anything to fear in bringing pot on to a plane. Currently, there are only six US states that ban cannabis in all forms. With 13% of citizens reportedly saying they consume the drug regularly, there are now millions of Americans who find themselves in a legal gray area when they travel with cannabis.

State marijuana laws differ in minimum age, medical versus recreational usage and amounts allowed. Plus, marijuana is still very much illegal in nearly all contexts under federal law.

While some travelers are overcome with paranoia at the thought of flying with weed – like the Hawaiian man who assaulted a TSA officer and tried to flee the airport to keep them from finding the joint hidden below his groin – it’s not uncommon to hear stories of people confidently walking through security with marijuana in their pocket.

“I’ve known people for years who regularly fly through multiple jurisdictions with marijuana, even where it’s illegal, and have never gotten in trouble,” says Robert Capecchi, director of federal policy for the Marijuana Policy Project, a research group in favor of decriminalizing the drug.

Capecchi is suspicious of the TSA’s explanation of a “database error” that caused them to temporarily green-light medical marijuana possession on planes, and sees it more as a temporary moment of honesty because the agency does not seem to be terribly concerned with busting people for marijuana possession.

“What probably happened is that someone thought, ‘Let’s put our practice into policy.’ But when they put it up on the website, someone higher up took umbrage with that and had them take it down.”

The TSA declined to comment on the situation, other than to deliver a brief statement that reiterated their earlier tweet, and added: “Our officers are not looking for illegal narcotics, but they have to report them to law enforcement when discovered.”

Despite being a federal agency, the TSA defers to local law enforcement in matters of low-level drug possession. Anyone found transporting large amounts of cannabis through an airport, however, could be prosecuted by a federal agency such as the DEA.

And when there is no state law prohibiting possession of marijuana, like in Colorado, where all forms of marijuana are legal, the buck then gets passed on to airport itself.

“We have an administrative policy in place that prohibits the possession of any form of marijuana on airport property,” said Heath Montgomery, spokesman for Denver international airport. “There’s no distinction for us between medical marijuana or otherwise. Our policy prohibits the possession, display, or use of any form of marijuana.”

So that settles that: it is illegal to possess marijuana at Denver international airport, right? Not exactly.

“To be clear, it’s not a criminal offense,” Montgomery said, referring to passengers of age carrying small amounts of cannabis. “But there is an administrative citation that the airport has the authority to write to somebody for violating our rules.”

When asked how many citations have been handed out since Colorado became one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana use, Montgomery replied: “We have not yet written any of these citations.”

Instead, the traveler is asked to dispose of their marijuana in one of the airport’s “amnesty boxes”, and so long as they agree, no citation is given.

Even in a state like Minnesota, which has a very restricted medical marijuana system, anyone with a prescription could probably enter airport security without concern, according to Capecchi.

“If you’re a medical marijuana patient cardholder in Minnesota, then as long as you’re legal under state law, in an ideal world what happens is local law enforcement would check your certification, verify that you’re a medical marijuana patient, and let you go,” he said. “I say in an ideal world only because I know there are certain [law enforcement] individuals out there who may not be comfortable with medical marijuana laws. I have no reason to think otherwise because I haven’t heard any stories of patients being arrested while traveling with their medicine, but I like to be cautious about these things.”

There are still plenty of instances where flying with marijuana can place you on the wrong side of the law, such as flying internationally, but increasingly there are fewer legal mechanisms to enforce those laws and prosecute. To avoid any mad fleeing in an airport terminal, though, it’s probably best to play it safe and just leave your weed at home.